Filipino crew released; Jordanian journalist still missing

CMFR/Philippines – The Abu Sayyaf kidnap for ransom group released 2 February 2013 Filipino television crewmen it had captured with Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani in Sulu province in June 2012. Sulu is a province approximately 1,800 kilometers south of Manila.

In a phone interview with CMFR, regional Police public information officer  Superintendent Oscar Nantes said that cameraman Ramilito Vela called his wife at around nine in the morning from a hotel in Jolo telling her that he and audio technician Rolando Letrero had been released. Vela’s wife then informed the Police anti-kidnapping group in Manila.

Vela and Letrero were hired by Atyani to help film his supposed interview with members of the Abu Sayyaf Group. Atyani is the Southeast Asia bureau chief of Al-Arabiya, a news channel based in Dubai.

Nantes said the report they received stated that Vela and Letrero are unaware of Atyani’s whereabouts as they had only been with Atyani in the first five days of their captivity.

InterAksyon.com quoted Vela in Filipino as saying that, “On February 2, without knowing if there was money involved, if there was a negotiation, we were surprised why we were already in a town in Sulu.”

Authorities could not confirm if ransom was paid for the release of Vela and Letreto, according to InterAksyon.com.

Several journalists have been abducted by the Abu Sayyaf Group since 2000. In June 2008, Philippine broadcaster Ces Drilon and her crew were held captive after what was also supposed to be an interview with Abu Sayyaf.

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